--- title: "Parsec Patrol Diaries: Why a Game?" date: 2013-11-19T12:00:00-07:00 url: https://blog.lmorchard.com/2013/11/19/parsec-patrol-diaries-why-a-game/ author: Les Orchard tags: [html5, parsecpatrol, webdev] --- # Parsec Patrol Diaries: Why a Game? I decided to start writing [a retro space game for the web][1], because I thought it might be a good way to exercise a lot of interesting technologies and have fun to boot. You know, like how [sending rockets into space yields astronaut ice cream & anti-shock trousers back down on Earth][2]. But, I’ve also wanted to make games all the way back to my Atari 2600, Commodore 64, and Apple ][ days – because [Warren Robinett][3] is my hero.

My nerd shrine, featuring a Commodore 64 & Atari 800

Warren Robinett is the very model of the programmer-hero: He single-handedly created [Adventure][4], then signed his work with [the gaming world’s first easter egg][5] when they wouldn’t give him credit. If that weren’t enough, this guy also [started his own company][6] after Atari and made [Rocky’s Boots][7]. It was only very recently that [I pieced things together and realized][8] that [Rocky’s Boots][9] is basically Adventure 2, except the bats and dragons and skeletons were drafted into warping wee brains like mine to understand binary logic and digital circuitry. I spent hours in that game, wrapping my 7-year-old head around things that wouldn’t be on exams until about 12 years later in my college compsci courses. That’s not to say Mr. Robinett is the only game-programming hero from my youth. Back then, you didn’t need a full-on studio to produce something impressive, at least speaking relative to the state of the art at the time. I couldn’t name all my 8-bit heroes – but consider folks like [Andrew Braybrook][10], [Jeff Minter][11], [David Braben & Ian Bell][12]. Along with old-school music makers like [Rob Hubbard][13] and [Martin Galway][14], these were the rockstars of my pre-WWW youth. Today, you’d call these folks *indie game developers*. Sometimes you still see the solo heros, sometimes teams of under a dozen. Still, it looks more like rock & roll than an orchestral production. The games are often somewhat constrained in tech, relying more on clever gameplay and the kind of character that never survives design-by-committee. Of course, a lot of that rock & roll stands on giant shoulders these days, thanks to abstractions like [Microsoft XNA][15] (R.I.P.) and the [Unreal Engine][16]. There are also a bazillion other little game engines, web-based and native. But, there’s still a sweet spot for these indie rockstars to carve out a game using mere human-sized brains. For my part, I feel like the web is my new Commodore 64. So, [Parsec Patrol][1] is my little project to play at being a game building rockstar. Hopefully, I’ll land somewhere on the scale between actual rockstar and playing Rock Band on Novice mode. [1]: https://github.com/lmorchard/parsec-patrol [2]: http://spinoff.nasa.gov/ [3]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Robinett [4]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adventure_%28Atari_2600%29 [5]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adventure_%28Atari_2600%29#Easter_egg [6]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Learning_Company [7]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky%27s_Boots [8]: https://twitter.com/lmorchard/status/393572056266051584 [9]: https://archive.org/stream/Rockys_Boots_1982_Learning_Company/Rockys_Boots_1982_Learning_Company.do?module=apple2c&scale=2 [10]: http://paulemozplaysagameaday.blogspot.com/2011/05/andrew-braybrook-c64-history.html [11]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Minter [12]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elite_%28video_game%29 [13]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9CwsOOjNAo [14]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Ymajs4GdeFI#t=252 [15]: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_XNA [16]: http://www.unrealengine.com/